The posted coordinates for this cache are bogus. The final location of the cache container (not in GPS coordinates, but in another unique wayfinding tool) can be found after solving the puzzle!
Central Park is home to 1,600 lampposts - the stout, cast-iron black ones that line most paths around the park. However, many of these lampposts hold a secret: a wayfinding tool built into the very system of the park.
Desgned by Henry Bacon in 1907, this system was originally made so park employees could find any specific lamppost with ease, and now it is an amazing old form of GPS - or really, CPPS: Central Park Positioning System.
Many of the Central Park lampposts are adorned with a unique 4-digit series of numbers on a small, often silver-colored, plaque.
The first two numbers correspond to the closest cross street on the east and west side. (For example, if the first two numbers were 75, the nearest cross street would be 75th street.) With numbers 100 and above, only the ones and tens digits are recorded on the pole (for example, if the nearest cross street is 104th, the first two digits on the lamppost would be 04; Central Park doesn't stretch down to 4th street, so we know this must be 104th street.)
The last two numbers on the pole locate it more specifically. Imagine a line down the middle of the Central Park. The farther the lamppost is from that line, the lower the last two numbers on its plaque (numbers start at 01 or 02, respectively, at the west and east edges of the park.) On the east side of the park, these last two digits on a lamppost will be even (even streets go east); on the west side of the park, they will be odd (odd streets go west.)
To find this cache, solve the following puzzle, and use the key to translate the appropriate squares with the key into a four digit number. This number is formatted as ABCD; each variable is one digit. This number is the number on the plaque of a lamppost in Central Park, and that lamppost is within 20 feet of this cache! Once the number is uncovered, use the system of the lampposts to find this specific lamppost, and from there find the cache - but know: this is urban geocaching, and urban geocaching requires stealth, even once you reach ground zero. There is a small handmade wire charm for the FTF (but most else doesn't fit in the cache!) Please bring your own writing utensil, as the cache doesn't have one of its own, and make sure to secure the log bag and other parts in the correct positioning, along with closing the bag so it is watertight!
You can check your answer for the four-digit lamppost number here. (Input your answer, click submit, and then click on the "view score" button; it will not reveal the correct answer, only check if your answer is correct.)
The puzzle is a word ladder. On each step of the ladder, the word changes by one letter. For example, "MIND," with the following clue being "Things that are yours," could become "MINE."
("Boring or uninteresting" is line 1.)
A = the first letter of line 17.
B = the third letter of line 2.
C = the second letter of line 19.
D = the last letter of line 9.
Key:
A = 0
B = 2
C = 6
D = 5
E = 7
F = 9
G = 5
H = 1
I = 4
J = 3
K = 5
L = 2
M = 7
N = 9
O = 7
P = 0
Q = 4
R = 2
S = 1
T = 5
U = 7
V = 6
W = 1
X = 7
Y = 9
Z = 3
Congrats to ruthny for the FTF and Caitlin535 for the STF!